About Teispes, king of Anshan

Teispes (from Greek Τεΐσπης < Old Persian: ΨΡραΡρ[1] Cišpiš[2]) lived from 675-640 BCE. He was the son of Achaemenes and an ancestor of Cyrus the Great.[3] There is evidence that Cyrus I and Ariaramnes were both his sons.[3] Cyrus I is the grandfather of Cyrus the Great, whereas Ariaramnes is great grandfather of Darius the Great. According to 7th-century BC docu­ments, he captured the Elamite city of Anshan after being freed from Median supremacy, and expanded his small kingdom. His kingdom was an Elamite vassal state. He was succeeded by his second son, Cyrus I.[3]

CYRUS CYLINDER A text in Babylonian cuneiform, commemorating Cyrus II’s (“the Great’s”) conquest of Babylon, inscribed on a 10-inch-long clay barrel. The text says, in part, “I am Cyrus, king of the world; great king; legitimate king; king of Babylon; king of Sumer and Akkad; king of the four rims; son of Cambyses, great king; king of Anshan; grandson of Cyrus [I]...descendant of Teispes....of a family always kingship." (Teispes was the son of Achaemenes, thus, the "Achaemenian" line, from which Cyrus claimed descent.) The text states further, “I returned to...sacred cities on the other side of the Tigris, the sanctuaries of which have been ruins for a long time, the images which [once] lived therein and established for them permanent sanctuaries. I gathered all their inhabitants and returned their habitations.” McCarter, p. 27; Wright, G. Ernest, Biblical Archaeology, page 200, as quoted by Aid at page 410.

Lydia, for circumstances of the origination and regnal years of the Gyges line. Teispes of the Achaemenids was “the first to be called king of Anshan, evidently...he absorbed the kingdom of Elam.... “From him sprang the double line of descent Cyrus I [to Cyrus II and Darius I Iines] through his two sons, Cyrus I and Ariaramnes,” Darius I’s line relying on his own (Behistun) inscription, which states the kings were to rule “in two lines” (Camb. v. III, pp. 219- 220). Astyages succeeded to the Mede throne after his father’s, Cyaxares I’s death. The only mentioned wife of Astyages was Aryenis, daughter of king Croesus of Lydia, which marriage accompanied a peace treaty between Lydia and Media c. 585 b.c. Herodotus 1.73-74. “Cambyses [I], a person of obscure origin, to whom king Astyages gave his daughter Mandane in marriage.” L 122 citing Herodotus. “Astyages had a daughter...Mandane.... [H]e gave her in marriage to Cambyses [I]....” 1 See Bibliography for editions. Emphases in quotations are supplied. App3A.I 286 Herodotus 1.107. “The father of Cyrus [II] is said to have been Cambyses [I] [of] the stock of the Persidae... [Cyrus’] mother, it is generally agreed, was Mandane, and this Mandane was the daughter of Astyages....” Xenophon Cyropaedia I.ii.1, I.iii.1 - IV.1. Cyrus II’s antecedents as they appear on the “Cylinder of Cyrus:” “I am Cyrus...son of Cambyses [I], the great king, King of Anshan; grandson of Cyrus [I], the great king, King of Anshan; great-grandson of Teispes, the great king, King of Anshan... ... Cambyses [I], “Cyrus’s father,” was pleased when he heard about teen-aged Cyrus’ leading participation with uncle Cyaxares II (“brother of Cyrus’ mother”), against an Assyrian hunting foray, while Cyrus was staying with “his grandfather” Astyages. Xenophon Cyropaedia I.iv.16. (It is not said whether the “uncle” relationship of Cyrus II to Cyaxares II was paternal or maternal.) Cyaxares II, “brother of Cyrus’ mother,” sent for assistance to “his brother-in-law, Cambyses [I]” and to [young] Cyrus,” upon word of war preparations by the “king of Assyria” (refer to Appendix 3A, III narrative). Xenophon I.v. “Two sources, Berossus (quoted by Eusebius) and Abydenus, say that Nabopolassar’s son, Nebuchadnezzar, married the daughter of the Median king, her name being Amytis (or Amuhia according to Abydenus).” Aid, p. 1128. (The Neo-Babylonian Dynasty chart is in Appendix 3A, II.) “[T]he Medes...allies of Babylonia, whose princess, Amyhia, Nebuchadnezzar married....” Camb. v. III, p. 212. (Josephus reports that , among Nebuchadnezzar’s many projects, “He also erected what was called a pensile paradise [the hanging gardens], because his wife was desirous to have things like her own country, she having been bred up in the palaces of Media” (AJ, X.XI.1); in the building of Babylon’s palace, Nebuchadnezzar erected very high walks, supported by stone pillars, and by planting what he called a pensile paradise...with all sorts of trees, he rendered the prospect an exact resemblance of a mountainous country. This he did to please his queen, because she had been brought up in Media, and was fond of a mountainous situation.” Josephus, “Against Apion,” I.I.19). Amytis, Cyrus II’s aunt, has been confused with the Cyaxares II daughter that Cyrus married after conquering Babylon (see quotation below, Xenophon VIII.v.17ff.). An editorial note at Xenophon VII.v.17ff., states, “But some historians say that he married his mother’s sister [Amytis]. But that maid must certainly have been a very old maid.” Perhaps the confusion stems from the fact that Cyrus received Amytis with the royal Babylonian harem, when, as Herodotus remarks the “harine lay down before him” after his victory. Refer to Appendix 3A, III narrative. “Darius [I], 2 the eldest son of Hystaspes, the son of Arsames...of the race of Achaemenidae” (Herodotus 1.209-210). Josephus AJ, X.XI.4 states, “Darius [I] was the son of Astyages, and had another name among the Greeks,” which has left confusion. (Some take it that Josephus erred and intended Hystaspes (--or, was Darius I’s mother also an Astyages’ daughter?) “Darius the Mede took over the kingdom when a son of sixty years and two” (Daniel V:31).

[I].” “He was son-in-law of Darius.” L 346. “Xerxes [I]...was sprung from Atossa, the daughter of Cyrus.” Herodotus 7:2. Xerxes gave his heritage “Achaemenes-Teispes-Ariaramnes-Arsames[#1?]-Hystaspus- Darius-” Xerxes. Herodotus 7:11. “Mardonius the son of Gobryas...being [Xerxes’s] own cousin, the child of a sister of Darius